


A Slip of the Heart

by rowofstars



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cora is awful, F/M, Gold fucks up, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, wedding angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-05-07 17:23:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gold is marrying someone else but pulls a Ross and Rachel and calls his bride by Belle’s name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this isn't longer. I was inspired and wrote it quick. There might be more. Feel free to prompt or give me ideas. I have no idea where this is going.

The wait by the altar seemed to take forever.

Gold watched pensively as Regina, came walking down the aisle in a deep crimson dress, having been preceded by her son, Henry. The expression on her face was tense, but she gave him the briefest of sympathetic smiles before she moved to the side and plastered on that fake smile she’d perfected years ago when she became the mayor.

Gold sought Belle’s face in the crowd and let out the breath he was holding when he found her. She met his eyes and smiled at him, giving him a little thumbs up with her right hand. Just a short while ago she’d found him in the office of the small church, and stopped him from fidgeting with his tie. Then she straightened it herself, and called him _handsome_. She looked him in the eyes and told him his fiance was the luckiest woman in the world, and in that moment he believed her, even if she didn’t really mean it.

The music shifted to the traditional wedding march and Gold swallowed hard.

He looked to the end of the aisle where his future was walking slowly towards him. She was alone, fiercely independent as always, which he had to admit was something he did love about her. She never let anyone stand in her way and she deserved every bit of her success.

She came to stand in front of him, her makeup, hair, and dress impeccable as always. She wore white, which he found amusing, but it was about tradition and appearance for her, not any airs of purity. In lieu of a minister, Dr. Hopper did the honors, reciting the words each of them was to say.

Gold licked his lips as he listened to Hopper’s voice. Glancing to the side, he saw Belle, looking for all the world like she was about to cry. Her eyes were bright, and her hands were clenched in her lap around a mangled tissue. His chest ached with the desire to go to her and wrap her in his arms, but he shook it off and looked back at his soon to be wife.

“I, Alexander Gold, take thee Cora,” Dr. Hopper said, softly, pausing to let Gold repeat the words.

Gold took a breath, his voice strong and firm as he spoke, wanting to leave no doubts of what he was promising. “I, Alexander Gold, take thee Belle -”

 _Oops_.

A collective gasp rippled through the room, followed by hushed mutterings, but one stood out among all of them and rang loud in his ears.

“Cora,” he immediately corrected, but by the look on Cora’s face the damage was done.

He looked out into the small audience to see Belle with her eyes wide, her hand raise to her mouth, covering her lips. He looked back to Cora, his mouth hanging open. There was an apology caught in his throat, and he didn’t understand why it wouldn’t come out.

There was a disturbance in the audience that drew everyone’s attention, and he looked to see Belle out of her seat and pushing her way passed the other attendees. Instead of coming to him like he hoped, she stepped into the aisle, gave him a watery eyed look and ran.

The next thing he knew his head was ringing and his cheek stung.

Cora stood in front of him her face filled with rage and her hand still raise, ready to strike him again.

Regina stepped up at that moment, and pulled her mother back, while Dr. Hopper tried to put himself between Gold and Cora as he admonished her to calm down.

Gold looked from the scene in front of him, to the back of the church where Belle had run through the double doors. He wanted to run after her, but he felt glued to the spot, paralyzed, and unable to do any more than look around in shock.

“I’m sorry,” he said feebly. But he didn’t know who he was speaking to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As many of you had asked for, here's a little more of the story, this time from Belle's POV. They are both apparently giant woobies.   
> There are some things that are different from the first chapter, which is intended. This is a story from two people's points of view and they will describe, feel, and remember things differently. I hope it meets with approval. Feel free to give me prompts or ideas for more. I have a couple things in mind but no real idea where this is going.

The room was stuffy and the seats were flat and hard.

Belle shifted in her chair, uncrossed, and then recrossed her ankles, glancing down at her cell phone screen to make sure it was ready for the big moment. She lifted it and adjusted the zoom on the camera as Regina walked down the aisle, slow and steady, her bold red dress swishing softly. Henry had made a rather adorable, if older than usual, ring bearer, and she already had about ten pictures of him. She knew Gold would appreciate that.

She licked her lips as her eyes drifted to the man himself, standing rigidly by the altar in his dark charcoal suit, with his cane in front of him. Her lips curved slightly as he twisted it in his hand. When she finally caught his gaze, she smiled wide and gave him a cheesy thumbs up. Gold seemed to relax at that, and she looked away as that feeling rose up in her chest again.

Earlier, when they had been alone in the office, she’d almost let it out, almost said the words she’d been holding back for years. She was right there, her hands on his chest, fixing his tie because he was hopeless and couldn’t stop fidgeting when he got nervous. But she stopped herself, called him handsome and forced a playful smile that he seemed to believe. It wasn’t like he would ever feel the same way about her. 

No, he was with Cora, had been for almost a year now. Cora was beautiful, sophisticated, and powerful, just like Gold. And she was just - Belle. Odd, head in the clouds, nose in a book, Belle. That Alexander Gold ever became the friend of the clumsy librarian was a miracle in and of itself, considering how they first met. He still teased her about it from time to time, though he also hadn’t bothered to fix the dent in his Cadillac. But it was always with a smile that she found entirely too charming.

The blaring chords of a wedding march rang out and Belle twisted the tissue in her hands.

She didn’t watch Cora traipse down aisle, she kept her eyes on Gold. She caught herself searching his face for something, a sign maybe, _anything_. It was foolish, she knew, and once again she felt terrible for not being as happy for her friend as she should be. Instead, she watched as his face lit up and his fiance stepped up onto the dais.

They took each other’s hands and looked into each other's eyes, then turned to Dr. Hopper. It was perfect. And it was all Belle needed to see.

Archie wasted no time reciting the standard spiel and then starting the vows. Belle felt the tears welling up and she touched the tissue to her lower lashes, hoping to stave off the inevitable flood a little longer. At least until she could make her getaway. Then she wouldn’t care how horrible her makeup looked. She held up her cell phone to hide her face, tapping the screen to get at least one picture. Certainly there would come a day when it didn’t kill her to look at it.

Then came Gold’s voice, and she sighed. She loved that voice and the man that went with it. But he would never be hers.

“I, Alexander Gold, take thee Belle -”

_What?!_

Beside her, Ruby and Victor gasped, Ruby turning in her seat to stare wide eyed at Gold and then at her. A quiet muttering rippled through the room and Belle felt everyone’s eyes settling on her. She looked up, and there was Gold, gaping and staring at her too, like she’d been the one who said it and not him. Her mouth opened, but she had no idea what to say, what to do.

Did she jump up and admit her feelings in front of everyone? Did she make it into a joke? Did she let him take her hand and run out of the back of the church where they’d get on a bus and run away from everything?

The movies made it seem so easy.

Gold looked away abruptly and corrected himself. The bastard really hadn’t mean it after all. It must have just been a weird slip, she thought, like saying a word because you were looking at that thing instead of the word you meant to say. She let out a shaky breath and pressed her fingers to her lips to keep them from quivering. That was okay, that was -

The sound of the slap hushed the room and Belle winced.

Cora was practically seething, her normally quiet anger now very telling in the sharp lines of her face and her narrowed eyes. She was breathing steady but deep and her hand was still raised between her and Gold. Belle grabbed her clutch and stood just as Regina stepped up to pull her mother away from Gold. Archie moved as well, but he too was tongue tied and stunned to be effective at deflating the situation.

Belle turned and shuffled past Ruby and Victor, briefly meeting Gold’s eyes as she stepped into the aisle. She looked up at him, her eyes burning with unshed tears, her heart pounding against her ribs. She opened her mouth but there were no words, only a lump in her throat that refused to budge. She felt like she was suffocating.

The next thing she knew she was on the other side of the double doors, the sharp thud of them closing ringing almost as loud in her ears as Gold’s words.

“ _I’m sorry_.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath for Gold and Cora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone remember this story? Well, here's more. With bonus Cora being a jerk. What else is new? :)

Gold watched as Belle hurried through the doors of the chapel, the skirt of her dress and her hair swinging behind her as she all but ran in her high heels.

His heart felt like it was in his feet, like it couldn’t possibly sink any lower or feel any more desperate. Gripping his cane tightly, he turned and took a step towards the doors, filled with a momentary bravery and conviction to go after her. But then Ruby Lucas stepped into the aisle and followed after her friend, pausing at the door to give him a stern, glaring look that left him feeling even more deflated.

Ruby would look after Belle. He needn’t worry, he told himself, as if that were the only reason he was about to run after her. It certainly wasn’t so he could confess anything. His legs tingled with the urge to move as he twisted his fingers around the handle of his cane.

A sharp clearing of a throat shook him and brought him to reality.

“What the hell, Alexander?” Cora shifted into his view, blocking any escape, her eyes boring into him. Her hands were on her hips, her eyebrows lifted, and her lips set in a flat line. She was angry, he knew that, but he was also conflicted and uncertain. His face still stung from being slapped.

“I-I’m sorry, Cora, darling,” he started, trying to force a smile and holding his hand up in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “It was just a slip of the tongue, and -”

“A slip?” she repeated angrily. “You just slipped and forgot my name?”

He swallowed hard and tried to breathe but all he wanted to do was run. He was good at running. And avoiding. That’s probably how he’d gotten in this mess. He glanced over Cora’s shoulder to the doors, hoping against hope that Ruby would come back in with Belle in tow.

“ _Alexander_.”

He jumped and focused his eyes back on Cora. “Darling, it was nothing, it was just a m-mistake!”

Cora let out a scoffing sort of laugh and rolled her eyes. “A mistake? Oh, I see. Well then I -.” 

“Mother!” Regina hissed. “Your guests can hear you.”

Cora plastered on a smile, and turned to the few still in attendance. “I’m terribly sorry, but there won’t be a wedding here today. I’m sure you’ll all be more than happy to join us again soon.”

Regina barely held back a snort as the rest of the audience filed out of the church, and her mother glared. Then Cora took Gold’s arm and marched him down the few steps and up the aisle.

“The least you can do now is take me home,” she grumbled, shooting a sideways glare at Gold and looking pleased when he cowed and stumbled slightly.

The drive back to the house was the most tense fifteen minutes of Gold’s life. Quiet anger emanated from Cora, surrounding her like a dark cloud that felt like a physical presence beside him. He could barely turn his head in her direction to check for cars at the intersections, and tried to keep his eyes on the road, his hands on the wheel. Quiet and steady, that was the way when she was mad. Best to let things calm down and blow over before he tried to make amends. Though he had no idea what it would take to make up for this.

He winced slightly as he came to a stop by the curb in front of the salmon colored Victorian, and then sighed as Cora let herself out of the car and started up the walkway. She usually waited for him to come around and open the door, even when she was mad which meant she’d gone well past mad and straight into furious. He leaned forward and rested his forehead on the steering wheel a moment before getting out and following after her.

Inside, Cora clomped her way up the stairs and down the hall to the bedroom. Gold trailed after her cautiously. He eased into the doorway only to be hit in the face with a pair of his boxers. He caught them against his chest before they could fall to the floor and frowned. A sock flew past his shoulder next.

“Cora, what -”

She looked at him with a steady, calm expression, but he could see the simmering anger in her eyes and the way they’d gone dark and cold.

“I don’t know where your suitcase is,” she snapped, flinging a shirt and then another pair of boxers at him. Then she turned and moved back to the dresser, pulling out more of his clothing. “You can pack it all up yourself, I don’t care.”

More random garments flew at him as she spoke, going on about. He gave up trying to catch them and moved into the room, dropping the items in his arm on the end of the bed.

“Cora, darling, _please_ ,” he pleaded. “It was just a - a -”

She stopped and looked at him, her arms crossed expectantly.

He sighed. “It was just - I saw her sitting there, and I - I said her name. I didn’t -”

He trailed off and shrugged and she rolled her eyes. “Stop sniveling. It’s pathetic.”

“I’m sorry,” he added weakly, and then started picking up and folding the clothes she’d thrown at him. “I’ll just change and be in the guest room.”

She laughed at him, shrill and unpleasant. He cringed inwardly. “No, you most certainly will _not_. You can go stay at one of your other properties, or in your shop, or at Granny’s for all I care.”

“But this is _my_ house!”

Now he was mad too. She wasn’t married to him yet, and as it sounded probably wouldn’t be, but this was one hundred percent, legally his property. The house his son - well, he wasn’t going to think about that.

“You have no right -” he started, but she rounded on him with a fistful of his shirts, still on the hangers.

“I have every right!” she shouted as she shoved the wood and hooks against him. “You humiliated me. The least you can do is let me stay in _our_ house until we sort this out.”

Gold deflated again and sighed. “Yes, dear.”

Cora shoved the shirts against his chest and his free hand came up to hold them as she stalked back to the walk-in closet.

Two hours later, Gold sat sullenly on the end of a lumpy double bed at Granny’s inn, staring at the rug. Cora’s anger hadn’t abated one bit in the time it took him to collect his clothes and pack and he wasn’t sure when or if it would. He knew he messed up, but he didn’t know how to fix it, or even if he wanted to. He wondered if Belle was okay and if he might have lost her too. He wasn’t sure he could bear that, and he squeezed his eyes shut, shaking free a lone tear that trailed down his cheek. He swiped at it angrily and stood up, bracing himself more heavily than usual on his cane.

It was almost six and he should have been enjoying the catered food at their reception. Instead he was banished from his own home and alone. Sighing, he limped to door, resigned to eating a plate of Granny’s lasagna instead of roast lamb or fish or whatever the hell it was Cora had picked out.

Pulling open the door, Gold froze. “Belle, “ he said softly, too shocked at finding her on the other side of the door to say anything else.

“Hey,” she replied, biting her lip as she nervously met his eyes. “Can we talk?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Gold's slip at the ceremony, Belle does some thinking, and has an encounter with Cora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this back and forth POV thing is kinda working for me. I hope it works for everyone else. This chapter is a bit longer. I had originally planned for each part to be short like the first but that was when it was just a one-shot and a follow up. Now that this is A THING, I think each chapter might be around 2K. That's not long by my standards, but there it is. Apologies in advance for Cora and her existence.

Belle blinked and looked around, surprised to find herself outside the church.

She looked over her shoulder, at the double doors, in confusion. She remembered Gold’s words and the crushing feeling in her chest. She remembered standing up and that deep, anxious need to be anywhere else, but she didn’t remember moving her feet and running out of the ceremony. She sniffed and wiped a hand under her eye, frowning when it came away with a streak of black. 

_Great_ , she thought. Not only had she humiliated herself, but now her makeup was ruined. She couldn’t go back inside, so she sighed and sat down on the steps. A very silly part of her hoped that at any moment Gold would burst through the doors, having chased after her. But there was no way that was going to happen, and she really needed to get those notions out of her head if she was going to follow through on her plan.

The doors flung open behind her and she startled, still foolishly believing her little fantasy might be true, and then sighed again when she saw Ruby.

“Belle!” Ruby exclaimed, stopping on the step next to Belle with her hands on her hips. “What the hell?”

Belle snorted, easily amused by the rhyming, and shook her head. “I don’t know, Rubes.”

“You don’t _know_?” Ruby repeated, frowning. She dropped down next to Belle, stretching out her long legs which ended in a pair of sparkly silver shoes. “So, Gold didn’t just say your name instead of Cora’s? I dreamed that whole mess?”

Belle shrugged. “It was just a slip of the tongue. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “ _Right_. Because _that_ happens all the time.”

“Ruby,” Belle said, her head falling back as she blew out a breath. “He’s with Cora. He’s _been_ with Cora. He’s _marrying_ Cora.”

Ruby raised her eyebrows again, silently wondering if any marrying was going to go on today, and then looked back at the door. “Speaking of Cora, we’ve probably got about two minutes before a bunch of people come through that door, either following Cora in a rage, or running from Cora in a rage.”

Belle winced and muttered, “Yeah. Poor Alex.”

“Yeah,” Ruby sighed. “Come on, let’s get outta here before the chaos starts, okay?”

Belle nodded as Ruby stood and then let her friend pull her to her feet.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Belle looked around the living room of her small apartment, her eyes landing on the boxes by her bookshelf. They were already half full and her bookshelves weren’t even close to empty. She’d need to bring some more home from the library to finish packing up all of them. Not to mention that she still had most of the kitchen to do as well. She ran a hand through her hair and then picked up her phone. The screen was the same as it was before, no new messages, no missed calls.

Everything kept running through her head. The moment in the office when she’d straightened Gold’s tie. The words that were _right there_ , that she’d wanted to say for months. The way he said _her_ name instead of Cora’s.

She sighed and leaned to the side to retrieve the glass of wine she’d been sipping at since Ruby left. Leaning back on the sofa, she swirled the light gold liquid around, watching it creep towards the rim and then slide back down. She’d felt like that a lot the last six months. Ever since Gold had told her he proposed to Cora and that she’d accepted, there’d been this pushing and pulling going on inside her.

She’d always been scared to lose him as a friend, or to change the nature of their relationship, but now that seemed almost inevitable. There was no way she would see him as often once he was married to Cora. In fact, she’d be lucky if she ever saw him again at all, even if she was planning to stay in Storybrooke. Which she wasn’t.

There was a new job waiting for her in Portland just two weeks from now. It was only an hour’s drive away but it might as well be the other side of the country. The whole thing was pretty perfect, with a bump up to a head librarian position, two grant funded children’s programs to run, in a larger city closer with actual colleges both in it and nearby. She’d been working on this move and planning things for almost two months.

The only problem was she hadn’t told Gold yet.

Oh, she’d meant to, about as many times as she meant to tell him she was madly in love with him.

Both things had happened a total of zero times.

She’d come so close to saying how she felt, to telling him her plans, only to change her mind or lose her courage or have the perfect moment dissolve. It was ridiculous, she thought, swallowing a large gulp of the wine. 

He’d said _her name_.

It stuck in her mind more than anything, the sound of it, soft and with that little smile he had where the right corner of his mouth turned up. Ruby seemed to think it meant something, that people didn’t just make slip ups like that. She took another drink and licked her lips.

She should just - _say it_. She only needed three words. Two of them were measly little pronouns. How hard was it to say three words?

She could find him, tell him how she felt, and if he looked the slightest bit like he was going to laugh at her or tell her she was crazy, she had the fact that she was leaving in her back pocket. She would just tell him that his answer didn’t matter. That she was over it and she was leaving.

The last of the wine slid down her throat and she felt a weird sense of peace about the whole thing. She had a plan. A final, definitive plan. No matter which way it ended, either with everything she ever wanted, or a fresh start in a new town, she’d be okay. Eventually.

Setting her wine glass aside, she stood up and went into her bedroom to change.

An hour later, Belle was standing on the porch of Gold’s house fighting the urge to throw up. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly. In through her nose, out through her mouth, wishing she hadn’t relied so much on liquid courage to spur her to action. In the time between when she formulated her plan and when she started to execute it, the effects of two glasses of white wine had significantly worn off.

But she was here, that was something. She reminded herself that no matter what, an answer was better than not knowing.

She rang the doorbell and stepped back, still breathing slow and steady.

A few seconds later, she gasped as Cora opened the door and stared down at her.

“What the hell do _you_ want?”

Belle swallowed and shifted from one foot to the other. Cora was in a patterned silk robe that reached almost to the floor and a pair of those heeled slippers with the fluffy faux fur on them. She looked like some kind of old Hollywood actress, and Belle immediately felt at a disadvantage. She wished she hadn’t changed out of her dress and heels into comfortable jeans and flats.

“Is, um, is Alex home?” she asked.

Cora scowled. “ _Alexander_ ,” she said slowly, “is not here.”

Belle’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. I - I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” Cora snapped. “It’s your fault he’s left.”

“Left?” Belle repeated. Gold had left? Did that mean -? No. She couldn’t let herself get ahead of - herself.

Cora folded her arms and continued to glare down at Belle.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, shaking her head. “What’s my fault?”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Alexander felt so bad about what happened earlier that he left.”

Belle frowned. “He left?”

Cora huffed. “Well, he _insisted_ I stay here while he went elsewhere for the night.”

“Oh.” Belle looked down at the floorboards of the porch, biting her lip. Gold leaving like that sounded not only odd, but also very bad.

“You should know,” Cora started, her eyes narrowing in that way that always made Belle uneasy. “He was quite upset.”

“I'm sorry,” Belle said, weakly, glancing up only long enough to see the other woman’s expression before looking down again.

“As am I,” Cora added. “If _you_ hadn't been there..."

Cora trailed off and Belle looked up. She saw nothing but contempt in the other woman's eyes.

“I should, um, I should go,” Belle managed as she turned and all but ran back down the steps, away from the house. Her eyes started to fill with tears, blurring her vision as she hurried to her car.

She didn't know what Cora had been about to say, but all she could think is that somehow Gold was angry with her. Maybe he thought his slip up was partly her fault. Maybe he regretted inviting her. Maybe he was just hating himself and wallowing in a bottle of scotch. Maybe he was hating her too.

She spent a few moments in her car getting herself under control and wiping away the wetness from her eyes. It didn't matter, she supposed, the plan was still the plan. She'd probably know the second she saw his face what her answer was, but she still needed to see him. It wouldn’t be right to leave it this way, with him angry or upset.

A quick drive by the pawn shop told her he wasn't there, which left only Granny's inn. Belle shut her eyes and took a slow breath. When she opened them, she was still outside room number eight, twisting the strap of her purse. She took another breath and swallowed. _Do the brave thing_ , she thought.

She raised her hand and was about to knock, when the door suddenly opened.

Gold stood on the other side, looking tired, but surprised. “Belle.”

The sound of her name almost made her smile.

“Hey,” she said, biting at her lip as she finally met his eyes. “Can we talk?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle and Gold have a short chat, but each of their assumptions and issues get in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me. It really will get better. I have the next chapter also written, and the 7th about half done. I hope to post one chapter a week until it's done.

_“Can we talk?”_

There was a ringing in Gold’s ears and he could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage. He tried to swallow but his throat felt too tight.

It took Belle saying his name before Gold nodded and stepped aside, motioning for her to enter.

“Thanks,” she said softly as she passed by him.

He sighed with the doorknob still in his hand, uncertain if he should close it and stay or put himself on the other side and run. Then he shook his head and shut the door. If Belle was brave enough to come here and face him after what he’d done, the least he could do was hear her out. A small part of him was foolishly hopeful, wanting to believe that she’d come here because she felt something for him like he did for her.

He turned to see her sitting on the end of the bed where he’d just been. Her smile seemed tight and forced, and it slipped away quickly as she let her head drop. Her fingers were fiddling with the ring she always wore on her right hand. It was Belle’s mother’s ring, he remembered.

She sighed and bit her lip, glancing up at him pensively as he moved a chair away from the small table by the window. He set it down a couple of feet back from her and then sat, stretching out his aching leg.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted, looking down at his hands.

Belle frowned. “For what?”

“I shouldn’t have said your -,” he swallowed and looked up. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. It - it was a mistake.”

“Oh,” she breathed. Her shoulders sagged and she leaned forward to rest her hands on her knees. 

He saw her taking a slow, deep breath, staring at her feet. If he hadn’t known any better he could have mistook her relief for disappointment.

“Did Cora kick you out?” she asked.

He looked up and met her eyes and nodded. “Just - just for tonight,” he explained. “You know how she can be. I’m probably lucky my things aren’t being tossed onto the front lawn as we speak, but she’ll get over it. She always does.”

Belle frowned again and looked over to the window.

“I’ll make it up to her with a longer honeymoon or something,” he added. “I’m sure we can get everyone back together in a week or two for another ceremony.”

Gold fidgeted in the chair. She had asked if they could talk, but she didn’t seem like she had much to say. He wondered if she was still upset.

“Yeah,” she replied softly. Then she cleared her throat and sat up straight. “So, um, I guess I’m sorry too.”

He leaned forward, eyebrows knit in confusion. “For what?”

She smiled sheepishly. “For waiting so long to tell you my good news.”

Gold brightened visibly at that. “Oh?”

Belle nodded. “I, um, I got a new job.”

He smiled. “Where? At the school?” Then he paled. “You aren’t going back to teaching, are you?”

A look passed between them as they both recalled her very short stint as a substitute and the pranks the children had pulled on her.

She laughed a little and shook her head. “No, I think that ship has sailed.” She took a breath and added, “It’s, um, it’s in Portland.”

Gold felt the floor drop from underneath him, his heart sinking all the way into his shoes. She was leaving. Leaving Storybrooke. Leaving him.

“Portland?” he echoed.

She nodded again. “Yeah. They had an opening for a head librarian at a public library branch near one of the grade schools. There’s two children’s programs, fully funded, and I’ll only have to work four days a week. They were really excited about my ideas for incorporating technology and loaning out e-readers.” 

She smiled and bit her lip. “I applied ages ago, and I _meant_ to tell you, but you know how long state jobs can take just to mail you a rejection letter.”

He forced a smile, wanting to match her enthusiasm so she couldn’t tell he really wanted to scream.

“I didn’t expect to even get a phone interview,” she continued. “But -” Then she shrugged.

“Well,” he managed. He knew she needed him to say something or she’d go on rambling for the next hour. “That all sounds - great.”

“Yeah?”

She looked at him almost hopefully, and he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say. He could only dream that she’d be having second thoughts on his account.

“Yes,” he said firmly, forcing another smile. He felt sick to his stomach again.

Belle stood, and Gold followed suit, feeling awkward as she looked up at him. Her eyes were shiny and wet as she hugged him, happy tears, he assumed. It took him a moment to hug her back, the feeling of her in his arms almost too much to bear alongside the knowledge that she would be gone all too soon. Her face was tucked into the space under his chin and she squeezed him a little around the shoulders. She was too soft and too perfect for someone like him. He would just have to learn to be content with his choices in life, with Cora and Storybrooke.

It all made sense, really. Belle wanted more out of life. She needed a bigger town and a better job, and he would do nothing but be happy for her.

“When do you leave?” he asked as she finally pulled away. He immediately felt chilled by the loss of her warm body.

She sighed. “I start in two weeks.”

“Oh.” He realized then just how long she’d kept this from him, and he wondered if she was ever going to tell him at all or if she just planned on stopping by his shop on her way out of town. Maybe she hadn’t even really cared that much for him as a friend. “I see.”

“I was going to tell you,” she insisted. Her hand touched his arm, but he shrugged her off.

He gave her a tight smile and then moved towards the door. “I’m sure you would have.”

Gold knew his tone was cold and distant, but it was the only way. He had to protect himself, and he didn’t want her to see any disappointment from him. He wouldn’t keep her from her dreams.

“Alex,” she said, following him step for step. “Please don’t be like this.”

“Like what?” he snapped. Then he sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Belle, it’s just been a very long day.”

She sighed too and nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry to drop this on you like this. I wanted to tell you right away, but then there was all the wedding _stuff_ , and -” She shrugged. “No time ever seemed like the right one, you know?”

He swallowed and gave her another tense smile he didn’t feel. “Oh, I do know, sweetheart. Very much so.”

Belle’s mouth opened like she was about to say something else, but apparently she thought better of it. She pushed up on her toes and kissed his cheek, her hand braced on his shoulder. He opened the door for her, fighting to keep control over his roiling emotions. Her fingers brushed his hand as she moved passed him, and he shivered. The look on her face when she looked back at him, standing in the hallway was almost pleading.

She looked at him and smiled wanly. “I’m sorry.”

Gold nodded, and waited until she had moved out of sight to shut the door. He leaned his forehead against the painted wood and took a shuddering breath.

This was it then. He was losing his best friend and the love of his life. It was for the best, he knew that, but it still hurt.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the door, but he wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for anymore. 

For snapping at Belle? For humiliating Cora in front of their friends? For being too much of a coward to ever tell either of them how he felt? Pick any of them and it would be right.

With another sigh, he pushed off the door and limped back to the bed to lay down. He no longer felt like eating, or even existing. He felt almost nothing except for the rock that had settled in his gut.

Regret.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle reflects, packs, and gets some unwanted advice from Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look at me managing to do this whole weekly updates thing. Pretty neat eh? I hope you all don't hate me too much for the angst road we're on, but I swear it will get better. Eventually... Anywho, the next chapter is done and chapter 8 is started as well, so look for another chapter on next Monday.

Belle scowled as three pinpricks of blood appeared on the pad of her thumb. The packing tape dispenser landed on the floor and skidded under the coffee table as she angrily tossed it aside. She sucked her thumb into her mouth and made her way to her tiny bathroom to look for a bandaid. But her lucky streak was continuing and they were packed already, lost at the bottom of the box with her toenail clippers, nail polish, and cotton balls.

She frowned and flipped open the medicine cabinet again, only slightly relieved to see a bandaid in yellowed packaging next to a bottle of Advil. She had no idea where it had come from, but bleeding beggars couldn’t be choosers and all that. She grabbed it and then sat on the toilet lid to peel apart the thin papers covering the bandaid strip.

Belle wrapped it around her thumb with a sigh, and shuffled back into her living room. The majority of her apartment was in boxes now, all nicely taped and labeled, though a few were left open so she could swap clothes in and out of them. She was down to eating on paper plates with plastic utensils and making ramen cups in the microwave in the evenings.

Only a few more days before the Welcome to Storybrooke sign would be in her rear-view mirror. She didn’t quite know how to feel about it yet, but she imagined she’d have to pull over and cry before she made it to Brunswick. Whether it be over leaving the quaint, sleepy little town she’d come to love or over the gruff, Scottish pawnbroker she’d come to love, she couldn’t - or _wouldn’t_ \- admit.

Going to see Gold the other night had been impulsive and a bit foolish. He was clearly hurting from what happened at the wedding and probably after with Cora. She had no business adding to it, but she had to do it before she lost her nerve.

If she was honest with herself, what she had really hoped for when she went to find Gold in his room at Granny’s inn, was some kind of tearful plea for her to stay. Like something out of a romantic comedy where she’s ready to move on and he finally comes to his senses and professes his love. But that didn’t happen. Instead she got cool indifference and a goodbye hug that felt half-hearted at best. Cora had been right all along.

She should have told him weeks ago, she knew that, but what good would it have done? He was still marrying Cora, probably. There was an outside chance she wouldn’t take him back, but the odds were too long to put real money on it. Cora needed Gold’s money, everyone knew that. Her late husband had run their finances into the ground. The only value the Mills family had left was tied up in land no one around here could afford to buy.

Except Gold.

Belle had wondered if that was Cora’s ultimate plan. Marry Alexander Gold and make him buy the land from the estate, thus boosting the family trust significantly. She’d probably leave him a year later. It was depressing to think about but there were plenty of reasons why Cora Mills was on her fourth husband. Would Gold be crushed? Or would he see it coming? Did he already and he just didn’t care?

A knock at the door interrupted Belle’s thoughts. She pulled it open to see her friend Ruby.

“Hey, Belles,” Ruby said, side stepping Belle and entering the apartment. She had a plastic bag in one hand and the other wrapped around the neck of a wine bottle. “I thought you could use some real food and company.”

Belle shut the door, smiling. “You call takeout from Wong’s _real food_?”

Ruby dropped the sack of food onto the coffee table and headed for the kitchen with the wine bottle still in her hand. “It’s more real than noodle cups and boxed mac and cheese,” she called out over her shoulder.

Belle shook her head as the sound of drawers in the kitchen being opened and then abruptly shut echoed off the now bare walls of her apartment. Then she sat down on one side of the coffee table and started lifting the food containers out of the bag.

“Whatever you’re looking for,” she yelled to Ruby, “it’s probably packed!”

Ruby came out of the kitchen, one hand on her hip the bottle hanging from her hand down at her side. “Corkscrew?”

“Use a knife?” Belle suggested with a shrug.

Ruby rolled her eyes and set the bottle down to rummage around in her purse. “I’ll just use this tiny one,” she said holding up a Swiss Army knife.

Belle grinned. “You’re always so prepared.”

An hour later, with their bellies full of greasy Chinese food, they sat on the floor by Belle’s bookshelves, sorting through her many books.

“Have you actually read all these?” Ruby asked, adding another fantasy novel to the growing stack in front of her.

“Most of them,” Belle answered. “Some I ended up not liking, so I stopped part way through.”

Ruby frowned. “But you _kept_ them? And you’re _moving_ them to another town? Even though you _don’t like_ them?”

Belle shrugged. “The covers are still pretty. And maybe I’ll like them more one day.”

Ruby shook her head and picked up the stack of books, carefully lowering it into an open box. “So,” she started. “How did your chat with Gold go?”

With a heavy sigh, Belle folded the box closed and picked up the packing tape. “It went as well as could be expected.”

Her friend let out a snort and shot her a look. “So you told him you were leaving but left out the part about how you’re totally in love with him?”

Belle glared. “I’m not totally in love with him.”

“Right,” Ruby muttered as she started pulling more books off the next shelf. “Is he why you’re moving?”

“What?” Belle stopped with the tape stretched halfway across the box. “I’m moving because this job is exactly what I’ve always wanted. Because Portland has so many more opportunities than Storybrooke. Because -”

“Because Alexander Gold doesn’t live there with his bitch of a wife?”

Belle stopped with her mouth hanging open, heat flushing her face. “She’s _not_ his wife.”

“Yet,” Ruby added.

Belle sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Then she twisted it up in a messy bun and leaned back against the couch. The pressure kept most of her hair from falling free.

“Yeah,” she said finally. “You’re right. I’m sure they’ve worked it out by now.”

Ruby crawled to the coffee table and retrieved their wine glasses, holding out Belle’s to her. “Oh I know they have,” she said.

Belle took the glass from Ruby and took a sip, her brows knit and her eyes half glaring over the rim of the glass. “What do you mean?”

Ruby’s head tilted and her eyebrows lifted. “Because it’s _Cora_? I heard she rebooked the church and the reception is going to be in Brunswick now, at the old country club ballroom.”

Belle took another drink of wine, this one more of a gulp. “Wow,” she breathed. “ _Already_?”

Ruby nodded and tipped back her glass to drain the last of her wine. Belle sat in a silence for moment, staring through the glass at her fingertips. Gold and Cora were back together and everything was the same as before. And why shouldn’t it be. It’s not like she’d done anything to stop it.

Belle startled when Ruby set the wine bottle down between them, but then she reached over to pick it up and add more to her glass.

“I’m sure it’s going to be quite the “to do” now,” Ruby said. “Cora will have to let everyone know that no one stops her wedding or gets in her way.”

Belle swallowed another mouthful of wine. There were boxes stacked all around the apartment now, against the walls, in her bedroom, on the kitchen table. She looked around at how barren everything seemed. No pictures on the walls, no decorations of any kind. Just a sofa, a coffee table, a lamp, and some bookshelves, that thanks to Ruby’s help were nearly empty. The room started to feel too warm. The plain brown cardboard seemed to stretch on forever, the black marker on the sides screaming at her with their new destinations. Living room. Kitchen. Bedroom. She shut her eyes as her stomach rolled.

Beside her Ruby went on and on about all the things she’d heard about Cora’s new and improved wedding, half of which were probably rumors Cora herself had started herself. 

“Stop!” Belle snapped.

Ruby mouth closed quickly, her lips pressed together as she stared wide eyed at Belle.

Belle sighed. “I’m sorry, okay. I’m just -” 

She took a breath and set her wine aside. “Look, it’s late and I’m tired. So, thanks for the food and the help and stuff,” she said, pushing herself up and standing.

Ruby stood as well, frowning slightly. “It’s only like eight thirty, Belles. If this is about what happened with Gold, then -”

She shook her head and took Ruby’s wine glass. “I’m _tired_ , okay? If you want to come help me tomorrow, you know where I’ll be.”

Ruby huffed. “Fine. Wallow in your self-pity. But just so you know, as long as he’s not officially married to that witch, it’s not too late.” 

Then she grabbed her purse and the plastic bag in which they had placed all the empty containers to be taken out to the trash. 

Her friend stalked to the door and Belle started to half protest, half apologize.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ruby snapped, then she yanked the door open.

“Oh!” she said, pausing to rummage in the bag. She pulled out something which she tossed to Belle. “You didn’t open your fortune cookie. Maybe it will be advice you’ll actually listen to.”

The door all but slammed shut, the sound rattling around the room and making Belle wince. She sighed again and stared down at the cookie in its clear plastic packaging for a few minutes, then dropped down to the sofa. She pulled at the ends and opened it, cracking the cookie in half and discarding everything but the fortune on the coffee table. She didn’t like the cookies, just the amusement of the note inside.

She unfolded the skinny slip of paper and read what it said. Then she dropped it on the table too.

_Good things come to those who wait!_

She stared at the fortune for a moment and then gathered it all up and dropped it in the trash bin. Screw that, she thought. She _had_ waited. She’d waited a long time. The good thing she wanted hadn’t happened. Now she understood that maybe there was a reason for that, that maybe it was time to go and find good things somewhere else.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold laments and has a talk with Cora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the most painful chapter of the whole thing. Fair warning, there's Cora trying to be flirty and there's mild Gold and Cora smooching. I know, I know.

Gold hung his suit jacket on the coat rack and sighed.

The shop felt too stuffy and warm today. It made him grumpier than usual and short with the customers. Well, the few he had on Tuesdays anyway. It was usually the day he hid in the back room and did the books, or worked on repairing some of the damaged treasures he'd collected.

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his dress shirt, setting the cuff links in a small porcelain bowl on his desk, and rolled up his sleeves. He picked up a small screwdriver from the workbench and eyed the mess of gears from the disassembled clock.

After an hour of picking at things, he had probably broken more than he’d fixed. He pushed his stool back from the bench and leaned forward, resting his head in his hands, his palms pressed against his forehead. 

Cora had basically forgiven him, in her way, the way that made him feel like he was still in trouble, still losing somehow in the long run. But he was back in his house and their bed and it had only taken one night in a hotel, a pile of flowers, and a pair of diamond earrings. He’d already had the earrings, intending them to be a wedding night gift, but it didn’t matter much how or why she got them just that she did. They were an atonement of a sort, he supposed.

Now, a week later, there was a whole new wedding planned, big and better than the first one, and more expensive too. The date was months out now, long after Belle would have left town and settled into her new life. All for the best. He was sure this time he wouldn’t mess things up.

Sighing, Gold sat up and ran a hand through his hair. He was considering a quick trip up the street to Granny’s for lunch when the shop’s bell rang out. He reached for his cane and slid off the stool, moving into the front room. He’d just passed through the beaded curtain when he stopped and stared.

 _Cora_.

She was peering into the case closest to the door where he kept the fine jewelry. Her hair was loose and curled which contrasted with her conservative navy skirt suit. There was a hint of a smile on her face, but it faded when she looked up.

“Hello, darling,” she said.

“Cora,” he replied. “What are you doing here?”

She frowned and strode forward, reaching for his hand where it rested on the counter near the cash register. Her fingers traced over his lightly, almost teasing, and it put him on edge.

“Can’t I come by my future husband’s shop whenever I like?” she asked. “What’s yours is mine, right?”

He let out a sharp snort. “I suppose.”

She pulled her hand away, folding it over the strap of her purse where it hung on her arm. “I just wanted to have a look around. It’s been ages since I’ve been in here.”

Gold nodded slowly, not believing a word she was saying, but knowing that eventually she’d get to the point. He turned and headed for the back room again, intended to go back to work until she stopped being cagey.

Following after him, Cora paused and looked at a tea set that was in the case against the back wall. It was simple, too simple for her tastes, tiny blue flowers on white, no gold edges or filigree. One of the cups had a tiny chip out of the rim.

She sneered. “I really don’t know why you hoard all these useless, old things, Alexander.”

Gold sighed internally, tired of the same discussions and arguments. “They aren’t useless, and I keep them because someone might want to buy them.”

She shook her head and moved into the back room, the beaded curtain swinging and clattering behind her. Gold’s eyes rested on the tea set for a moment, a memory replaying itself in his mind, before he followed after his fiancé.

“So what really brings you to the shop, dear?” he asked, limping to the desk. He knew she wanted something. She never came here if she could help it.

“The wedding, of course.” Her tone was almost snappish.

She looked annoyed as Gold made his way around behind the desk, but he’d been on his feet for the last three hours and his leg needed a rest. She stood in the middle of the room with a hand on her hip and her Italian leather purse over her arm. It made him feel small.

He sighed as he sat, and then leaned forward on the desk with his hands folded. “What about it? Not enough flowers on order? Find fifty more people to invite?”

Her head tilted slightly as she smiled. “Don’t be like that, Alexander. This is something that will make you happy.”

Gold’s eyes narrowed as Cora approached the desk. She set her handbag on top of a stack of file folders, and leaned forward with her hands braced on the front of the desk. His eyes flicked to the deep V made by the open buttons of her blouse, framed by the lapels of her jacket. When he glanced up she was smirking at him with one eyebrow arched, and he couldn’t help the wry twist of his lips.

“Do tell,” he said.

She straightened and then came around to the side of the desk, perching on the corner, her hip cocked towards him. He turned in his chair and leaned back. It had been a while since she’d been openly flirtatious. Despite his misgivings about their relationship, and the lingering sting of Belle’s rejection, he was curious where this was going.

She sighed and reached out to take his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m canceling it.”

Gold swallowed. “But - I thought -”

She shook her head and cut him off with a raise of her other hand. “I know, but I’ve realized that a big wedding isn’t what you want, and it isn’t what I want either.”

He startled a bit and then shifted forward, frowning. “Cora, darling, are you -?”

“I’m just as surprised as you are,” she said with a smile. “But I realized that we’ve both been married before, we’ve done all this. We don’t need to do it again. It proves nothing. We should just go to city hall next week and get it over with.”

Now he knew something was up. This wedding would have proved everything to everyone as far as Cora was concerned. It was why she insisted on getting every little thing she wanted, on moving the location, on the new, bigger reception, on more expensive everything. She was marrying the richest and most powerful man in town. It would have solidified everything she’d been striving for since Henry Mills Sr. died and left her with nothing.

Gold smirked. “What do you want, dear?”

She scowled and pulled her hand away from his before folding her arms across her chest. “Alexander, you are no fun.” 

He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. “I assume,” he started, “that this adjustment to the timeline will allow for a longer honeymoon?”

A grin spread over her face and she touched his hand again, tracing her fingertip over the back of it, lightly. “And perhaps, a different - _location_?”

He sighed and turned his palm up to hold her hand. “Of course, dear.” He flashed her a tight smile, and her eyes lit up, sparkling with her victory. “Italy is lovely in the spring,” he added as she tugged on his hand and placed it over her thigh.

“Tuscany?” she suggested, biting her red lips.

He hated that his thumb automatically started rubbing back and forth over the fabric of her skirt. He hated that just a week ago that look in her eye would have been more than welcome. Since he’d said Belle’s name it felt like his life had unraveled. Everything he thought he wanted was a lie, and everything he wanted was what he couldn’t have.

He nodded. “I’ll take care of the reservations before I come home.”

“Excellent!” she said, grinning at him. Then she shifted forward to slide off the desk. His hand reflexively squeezed her leg and then drifted up to her waist as she stood.

Cora looked down at him and licked her lips as she pulled his hand away from her silk blouse. “I’ll see you at home,” she said, lowering her voice just a touch. “Dove dropped off the groceries, and we have everything for a lovely beef bourguignon.”

He nodded again, giving her a half smile. It was one of his favorites. She was being much nicer than usual, sweet even, and it made him hopeful. They could still be good together.

He walked her out, his hand floating at the small of her back. His leg ached from struggling to keep up with the fast click of her heels, but at least it was only a few feet from the back room to the front door. Before he could open the door, she took hold of his tie and pulled him to her. She kissed him soft and deep, but in a way that was still demanding and kept her in control.

After the door close behind her, Gold swiped a hand over his lips and swallowed. His stomach flipped, but the kiss, like his life, tasted like ash in his mouth.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On her last day in Storybrooke, Belle receives a gift and some advice from an unlikely ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the end. :)

It was a Thursday. A slightly drizzly, damp Thursday with a sort of gray haze that gave everything a generally dreary feeling. There was nothing special about this Thursday other than it was Belle’s last day at the Storybrooke Public Library, and the day before she left town for good.

Also the day before Cora Mills and Alexander Gold’s wedding.

Again.

Belle sighed, and threw another glare at the cardboard box sitting at the end of the circulation desk. Mr. Dove had dropped it off this morning; just as she was sitting down to have some tea. He didn’t need to tell her it was from Gold, she knew. Dove didn’t play delivery boy for anyone else. And the leftover UPS label on the side with the address of Gold’s shop was kind of a dead giveaway.

She’d rolled her eyes and waved a hand towards the counter, wanting to acknowledge the thing as little as possible. Dove had set it down carefully, smiled warmly at her, and left. Since then she’d been stealing glances at it and frowning. She’d frowned at it so much that she thought that might be why she had a headache.

Belle rubbed her forehead and tried to focus on the list of subscribers to the book club. She needed to make sure all the information was up to date for her replacement, whoever that turned out to be. It was strange to think about, and she guessed she hadn’t really, even after she’d turned in her two weeks’ notice. She’d only lived here for five years yet it felt so much longer.

Storybrooke had been good to her, and she liked to think she’d been good to it as well. She had certainly been good for the library. It wasn’t worth being humble about when everyone in town had known the state of the place before she got here. Poor old Mrs. Potts had been trying to run the place by herself with arthritis in both knees. Boxes had been everywhere when Belle arrived. Carts with books needing to be placed on the higher shelves sat in the aisles, slowly covering with dust as weeks passed in between Mrs. Potts’ attempts to climb the ladder. In a weekend, Belle had the place set to rights, and the city council had insisted on a sort of grand reopening.

Gold was there that night. He gave her this sly smile and a nod, then wandered around the place for a few minutes, and left. That was the first time she’d ever seen him and she had no idea what to think. Were the stories true about the monster of Storybrooke? It was another month before she officially met him. If one could call backing one’s car into someone else’s car meeting them.

He was good about it though, surprisingly. Called it a simple accident, told her to be more careful, and never bothered to turn it into insurance. The Cadillac still had the dent too. There was a time she believed that meant something.

Belle glanced up at the clock, seeing that it was almost five, and then gave the package from Gold another scowl. After locking the front door and turning off the lights, she carried the box to the office in the back. It seemed sort of heavy, definitely easier to manage than the boxes of books she picked up on a daily basis. Something inside rattled a bit as she walked and she gave the top of the box a strange look before she set it down.

She sliced open the tape with the end of a pair of scissors. Inside was a mountain of packing peanuts which had her rolling her eyes. Whatever the hell was in here, Gold went out of his way to make sure it was protected. That or he was trying extra hard to piss her off.

The majority of the foam peanuts went into the trash bin, but she paused with a handful of them clutched in her palm to stare down at the contents of the box. Slowly, the peanuts tumbled from her hand to floor as her arm lowered to her side. She pressed her lips together and swallowed hard.

Her tea set.

It was a simple white porcelain with tiny blue flowers on both sides of the pot and cups. The rims were thin and plain save for a small blue line. She’d loved both the simplicity of the design and the elegant curve of the spout and handles. She didn’t even mind that one of the cups was chipped. It was on the rim near the handle, hardly noticeable. Every time she’d gone into Gold’s shop, she stared longingly at it. He’d offered it to her at a discount on her birthday last year, on account of the chipped cup, but she turned him down. She never really knew why she did that, and up until now she had regretted it a little. But he’d never made any effort to sell it that she could see. It was always in the back, in a case, never out front with the other tea sets.

Belle picked up one of the cups from the box and ran her finger around the edge. She could barely even feel the chip. Her hand tightened around the cup, squeezing it a little harder than one should for something so delicate. An urge welled up insider her, to throw it and smash it against the wall as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

She looked down and saw a small white square of paper. She fetched it with her free hand and unfolded the heavy cardstock to read a brief, one line note.

_Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure._

Well that was the second useless bit of advice she’d read in the last week.

That bastard had sent her this on purpose. Why, she wasn’t sure, but she knew it was _very_ deliberate. And he didn’t even have the guts to deliver it himself. No, he’d sent nice Mr. Dove to do his dirty work.

Belle took a breath, letting her eyes shut as she blew out the air between her lips, slowly. Feeling a touch less upset, she set the cup back in the box, carefully, and dropped the note on top. She folded the box closed, tucking one flap under another to keep it that way, and then put on her coat.

With a strange calmness, she picked up the box and headed out of the back door of the library, moving around the side of the building and through the alley until she was on the sidewalk out front. Just across the street, was Gold’s shop. The light was still on inside.

She imagined of marching inside and throwing the box at him. With any luck she might actually hit him before he had time to move out of the way. The tea set would undoubtedly break, but that’d serve him right. He could shove his stupid Jane Austen quote and his stupid tea set right in his stupid - _face._

Apparently she’d said some part of that out loud.

“Are you okay?” came Regina’s voice from just beside her.

Belle glared at her and then resumed glaring across the street.

“Belle?” Regina said, touching the other woman’s arm carefully. She glanced from the box to Belle’s face and then across to Gold’s shop. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Belle snapped, not looking anywhere else but at the object of her rage.

Regina’s eyebrows lifted and she nodded slowly. “Right. So you always stare murderously at the pawn shop after work?”

Belle sagged a bit and exhaled. “It’s not worth it,” she mumbled, and then turned to go.

Regina followed. “Now hold on,” she said. “It’s obviously not nothing, so it must be worth something. And what’s in the box?”

Belle let out a short, humorless laugh. “Nothing important,” she replied. “Just Gold’s sad attempt at - _whatever._ ”

“Ah.”

Belle stopped trying to walk away and turned to look at Regina. “Ah, what?”

Regina shrugged. “He’s your best friend,” she said. “I’m sure whatever it is was just him trying to say what he didn’t know how to say.”

Belle frowned. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

It actually made too much sense, with the context of Gold’s supposed _gift._ And that stupid card. It was pretty clear that he was telling her move on. Or he was asking her to remember him fondly. Or - something. Her head hurt too much to try to find the symbolism in a teapot and a Jane Austen quote.

Regina smiled and shrugged. “It’s Gold,” she offered, and Belle shook her head. There was the faintest little smile there though, and Regina licked her lips. “Have you said goodbye?”

“Sort of,” she said. She didn’t want to tell Regina about visiting Gold in his hotel room, or how he’d all but shoved her out the door. “As much as he knows how to say anything, I guess.”

 _As much as either of you know how to say anything_ , Regina thought.

“You guess?” Regina pushed.

Belle sighed and shifted her hold on the box, making the tea set inside rattle again. “I get the feeling he doesn’t much care that I’m leaving.”

It was Regina’s turn to scoff. “Oh, I very much doubt that.” 

Belle gave her a sideways look. “He’s marrying your mother,” she said flatly.

“Just, don’t leave without saying it one more time,” Regina urged. She gave Belle’s shoulder a squeeze. “Trust me. Regrets are - well, let’s just say, I have quite a lot of them.”

Belle shook her head again. She knew some of what Regina had gone through with her ex and Cora. Gold had hinted at it enough, and it was easy to see that the relationship between mother and daughter had been quite strained over it. She didn’t really see how it paralleled her and Gold at all, but Regina was still right. If she left without knowing what the hell Gold intended, she’d be wondering about it and thinking of him forever.

Hell, she was going to do that anyway.

“Yeah,” Belle sighed.

With a small nudge from Regina, Belle stepped off the curb and started across the street, clutching her box carefully.

Behind her, Regina smirked and spun on her heel to head back down the street the way she came. “Take that, _mother_ ,” she said quietly.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle and Gold have a chat, with better results than last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here you go. The chapter everyone probably thinks I should have posted weeks ago. But what angst free fun would that be? There are a couple bad words in here, but I didn't feel I needed to change the rating because of them. This includes one of my favorite tropes so I hope you like it. Only the epilogue to go!

Gold sighed as he finished wiping off the last case.

Tomorrow he was getting married. Again. It was his last day in the shop before it would be closed while he went on his honeymoon, and he wanted as it as clean as possible. It would probably turn into a dusty mess in the two weeks he would be gone, but it would be worse if he did nothing.

He’d caught himself looking out the front window of the shop more than once. His eyes drawn across the street to the entrance of the library, where Belle was going about her last day too. Except in two weeks she wouldn’t be back. She’d be happily settled in Portland, enjoying her new life.

He frowned as the doors to the library opened and Belle came outside, holding a large box. He couldn’t tell from this distance if it was the package he’d sent her, but he assumed it must be. She turned and seemed to be looking across the street directly at his shop. He want to duck down so she couldn’t see him, but he knew that was silly. 

Then Regina came up the sidewalk and stopped. She seemed to be saying something to Belle. Gold found it a bit odd since the two were hardly friends, but Henry did love spending time at the library, so it was probably just Regina being kind and saying goodbye. With another sigh he moved away from the window. That was it. She was going to turn and walk away and never look back.

It would hurt too much to watch her go.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Belle’s heart was in her throat.

Her eyes were fixed on the door to Gold’s shop and everything else seemed to blur as she crossed the street. Normally, she’d have thought up what to say before doing something like this, but Regina’s words had triggered something inside her. She like to think it was a spark of anger or curiosity that needed to be satisfied, the desire to drop the box at Gold’s feet and leave without a word. Let him figure out what she meant by it, the same way he’d left her confused by his gift and his note. 

But the truth was that it killed her to think about leaving without seeing him one more time. She needed that last moment. Maybe something would change, maybe it wouldn’t. Either way, she’d know for sure and then she could move on without any regrets.

Maybe.

She stepped up the curb on the other side of the street and looked over her shoulder at the library. Regina was nowhere to be seen and for a moment Belle wondered if she’d imagined the whole thing. But here she was in front of Gold’s shop, one last time.

She took a breath and pushed the door open with her hip.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The bell over the door rang out, and Gold stepped out of the back room.

He expected to see Cora since she had been coming by more often, sometimes bringing him coffee from the expensive machine she insisted on adding to his kitchen when she moved in. Instead he found the person he least expected.

“Belle,” he said, cautiously stepping forward. He all but held his breath, waiting to find out what she was doing here.

“Alexander,” Belle replied. She walked towards him, slowly, trying to hold onto the box and keep her hands from shaking.

He shifted his stance and squeezed the handle of his cane nervously. “What, um, what are you doing here?” he asked. 

He hated that his voice wavered. He hated that he was so happy to see her when he wanted to be angry. “I thought you were leaving,” he added, a bit snappish.

Her eyebrows lifted a touch. “Oh, I am.”

Gold frowned. “Then what’s this?”

Belle stepped forward and set the box on the counter, pushing it towards him until it was almost touching the side of the cash register. Then she took a half step back and crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with a pointed stare.

He looked at the box, knowing it was the one he’d packed last night before he left the shop. The same that Mr. Dove had picked up this morning with strict instruction to deliver only into the hands of Belle French. His eyes settled back on her, but her face was impassive as if she was waiting for him to just figure it out. 

His head shook slightly. “I don’t understand.”

She let out a quiet huff and barely held back an eye roll. He was either oblivious or playing dumb to piss her off. “ _You_ don’t understand?” she snapped. “What the fuck is _this_ supposed to mean?”

“It was a gift,” he said calmly. “I thought - I mean you’d always liked it, so I thought -”

“No, not - not the tea set.” She frowned and held out the folded note with the quote on it. “ _This!_ ”

Gold felt the floor drop out from underneath him. It was almost the same sensation as that fateful Saturday in the church when all this had started. “Oh.”

It was all he could manage to get out. She was going to leave Storybrooke forever, hating him.

Belle dropped the note on the counter and sighed heavily. “What the _hell_ , Alex? You don’t - you can’t -”

She perched her hands on her hips and bit her lip as she looked at the floor. This had been a mistake. She should just leave. Abruptly, she spun around and stalked back towards the door of the shop, the click of her heels angry and loud.

“Belle, I’m sorry,” he pleaded, holding out his hand towards her. When she turned back to him, he sighed. “I thought you’d understand. I thought a lot of things were understood, I guess. But -” 

He trailed off and sighed, his arm falling to his side. “ Apparently I’m an idiot,” he said simply. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, and I accept that. I never meant -”

“Stop.” Her voice was firm and sharp. She watched as Gold’s mouth hung open for a second and then snapped shut. She sniffed and took a breath, praying she didn’t start sobbing, but feeling her frustration bubbling up. Her face felt heated and her hands pressed over her skirt to keep from clenching. “Just - _stop_.”

Gold swallowed. “I’m sor-”

Belle let out a noise that just short of a scream. “I don’t even know why you’re apologizing!”

“Well, because -” He stopped again and looked at her. Her eyes were bright, shining with what he thought might be tears. He didn’t understand why she’d come here, or why his note had seemed so cryptic. It didn’t matter though. It was all his fault. This whole mess could be laid squarely at his feet.

“Because _I_ fucked up!” he said finally. “I said _your_ name and I ruined everything! I - I just saw you and - and it happened. I don’t know.”

He shook his head and turned around, unable to keep looking at her. He ran a hand through his hair and then looked back when he heard her heels click against the wood floor.

“Why did you say my name?” she asked. Her fingers twisted the edge of her cardigan.

Gold turned and braced on the counter with his free hand. He looked up at the clock behind the counter and sighed in exasperation. He knew why, and he thought that should probably be obvious by now. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” She frowned. Whatever she’d been expecting or hoping he’d say, he wasn’t. Maybe she’d really never had a chance at all and she’d gotten it all wrong.

“Yeah,” he huffed. “I - guess.” 

He swallowed and shook his head, his hair flopping in his face for a moment. At least he’d narrowly escaped saying he didn’t know again. But the words he’d held back for years were right there on the tip of his tongue, threatening to blow up his life.

Belle licked her lips as she watched his hair sway. Her fingers pulled at each other anxiously. She dared to move closer, sliding a hand along the edge of the counter until she was very close to his.

“Are you - happy?” she asked hesitantly. Then she pressed her lips together before anything else stupid could slip out. She wanted to sink into the floor or turn into a puddle or just evaporate.

She told herself if he was happy, that was what mattered.

Gold straightened a bit and looked at her in confusion. “I -” he stopped and studied her face, then glanced down at her hand that was very near his. When he looked up her eyes seemed very wide and perhaps - hopeful? 

“Are you?” he returned.

She smiled slightly. “I asked you first.”

“I -” He hesitated again. He should say yes. He should tell her what she needed to hear and let her go. It was the responsible thing to do. His last act as her friend.

“Alex, please.” She inched forward and her fingers brushed his hand.

His shoulders shifted slightly, pulling his hand away just enough that her touch slipped away. He hated himself for it. “Yes,” he said firmly.

Her face fell. He was lying to her. She could always tell because he’d square his shoulders and then try to speak sharply so no one would question him. “Alex -”

Gold moved, turning his body towards her, but moving away at the same time. He didn’t know what she was doing, why she was asking him if she was happy. What did it matter if he was or wasn’t if she was gone?

“You’re leaving,” he insisted. “You made your decision. If you’re not happy with it, that’s not my problem!”

That _bastard_. He was trying to do this for her own good. She could see it now, plain as day. He thought she wanted this so he was going to do his best to push her towards it.

Her nostrils flared and her hands clenched into fists at her side as she looked up at him. “Yes!” she shouted. “It is!”

Gold scowled. “Why?” he asked, stepping towards her. “ _Why_ are you here? Why don’t you just - _go?_ ”

“Because I’m in _love_ with you, you idiot!”

His mouth gaped open for a second and then snapped closed. Seizing the opportunity, Belle closed the distance between them and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. Her heart thumped once, hard, and then her lips were pressed against his.

It was inelegant. Her lips were off center and he’d tilted his head at the last moment so their noses bumped awkwardly. This might be it, for her and them. He might throw her out on the street, but so be it. When she finally let him pull back, his eyes were wide and warm, and his tongue darted out to wet his lips briefly.

“I love you too,” he said softly. He felt dazed, but not in a way that made him sick, more in a way that felt - light.

She’d been so sure this last impulsive moment would be it that it took her a long moment to realize what he’d said. His face fell slightly and she felt him start to move away before she reacted. Her grip on his jacket tightened and she smiled up at him, almost shy in the wake of their shared confession.

“You do?” she asked softly.

He nodded, smiling and then dipped his head and kissed her again. This time it was better. Her mouth opened just a bit so she could catch his bottom lip in hers. He felt another pull on his jacket and his hands came up to hold her waist and move as close as he dared, letting his cane clatter to the floor. Her body was pressed to his, all soft, slim curves and warmth. If she left Storybrooke after this his heart would go with her, but at least he’d have this memory of the feeling and taste of her the way he’d always wanted.

This time she broke the kiss, but not before she let out the mostly lovely little noise against his mouth.

“Don’t go,” he whispered, still leaning in, his lips almost brushing hers as he spoke. “Please?”

Belle beamed at him and kissed him lightly, plucking at his mouth with hers in a way that was delightfully playful. “Okay,” she said, pulling back. 

Then she bit her lip before she said, “Don’t - marry Cora.”

Gold grinned and raised a hand to cup her cheek. His thumb stroked over her face lightly. It was so hard to believe this was real, but he could feel her and see her and hear her. 

He kissed her once more, quickly, just to be sure. “Okay.”

He barely got the word out before he felt a tug at his chest and then her lips on his, much more insistent this time. Her fingers twisted the fabric of his jacket when his tongue finally met hers, making him stumble forward a bit. The movement cause him to turn them both and press her against the edge of the counter. She moaned into his mouth and pushed back with her hips eagerly.

There was a lot to talk about and sort out, but at least some of it could wait. Talking to Cora was not something he looked forward to, but - oh - Belle’s tongue moved over his and then he felt her teeth on his lip and any semblance of coherence left. Her hands slipped into his hair, keeping him close. His hips moved again, pushing her back roughly and shaking the counter.

Beside them, the tea set rattled in the box.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy endings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end. I promised a happy ending and here it is. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and commenting and sticking with me through this. And a huge thanks to nevermore913 for the original prompt and the mess that followed.

Gold stepped out of the bathroom, holding a towel closed at his waist as he rubbed another one over his damp hair. He limped to the bed, and then started to dress. After buttoning up his shirt, he went to the small closet and pulled out two ties. One was a plain gray blue, the other was a similar color but with a shiny paisley pattern contrasting with the matte fabric. Cora would hate it.

Luckily, he didn’t have to care what Cora thought anymore.

After finally getting on the same page, he and Belle had left the shop and immediately went to her place. It was all but empty, but they talked and ate takeout and had a rather awkward adventure on the air mattress that was serving as her bed. It certainly wasn’t the first time he’d envisioned, but it was somehow right and very them. The second time, in his bed, was much better. 

Of course it had taken a couple of very uncomfortable days to get things settled with Cora. He’d expected rage and fire and brimstone, but instead she was nothing but cool indifference and a steely gaze as she dropped her house key on the counter. He was sure that particular mess wasn’t quite over, but whatever it took to make her go away for good is what he would do. As soon as they got back he needed to have a conversation with his lawyer, and possibly Regina.

He set the ties aside and looked towards the doors that lead to the balcony. Beyond them, his love leaned on the railing and looked out at the Tuscan landscape. Her hair was twisted up messily and pinned at the back of her head. A few wavy bits hung around her face and trailed down her neck that he itched to brush aside. A breeze fluttered the curtains and the gauzy fabric of her skirt, and he caught himself licking his lips at the sight of her legs.

Belle seemed to sense she was being watched and looked over her shoulder at him. Seeing the look on his face, she bit her lip around a smile and then held out a hand, beckoning him over.

“You were thinking about me,” she said, turning back to view.

He stepped up behind her and wrapped his free arm around her waist. “Was I?”

She smiled and leaned back against him, sighing happily. “Is there someone else who puts that look on your face?”

Gold hummed and dropped a kiss to her bare shoulder next to the skinny strap of her dress. She laughed and raised her arm over her head to slip her fingers into his hair. He made another low, appreciative noise. 

“You’re avoiding the question,” she said teasingly. Then her head tilted to the side as he trailed kisses up her neck.

“No,” he replied in between kisses. “I’m avoiding going to dinner.”

Belle turned in his arms and then looped hers around his neck. “If you had your way we’d have spent all week in this room and that bed.”

He sighed and leaned his cane against the balcony railing so he could hold her waist with both hands. “Do you blame me?”

She shook her head, shaking free a lock of hair which he tucked behind her ear. One hand moved to his chest, toying with the top button until it came open and she could touch his skin. Truthfully, she wouldn’t have minded. There was always room service to sustain them. But she wouldn’t have traded the past week of traipsing around Tuscany for anything, cheesy picture at the Tower of Pisa included. Tomorrow they left for Elba, and he’d promised her beaches, a spa, and snorkeling. She hadn’t been snorkeling since she moved to the states.

“There’s no one else,” he said, softly, lowering his head so his lips were right by her ear. He knew she understood that, but things were so new. They both needed to say it and hear it after everything that had happened. 

He pulled back so he could look her in the eyes. “And there never will be if I have anything to say about it.”

She smiled and pushed up on her bare toes to kiss him. As it had so many times in the past ten days, what was intended to be a quick peck turned deeper and then more insistent, ending with the railing pressing into the small of her back.

Eventually, Belle broke the kiss and said, “That sounds very serious, Mr. Gold.”

He smirked at her and started swaying back and forth, recalling the dance they shared in his bedroom mid packing, open suitcases and clothes lying everywhere. He’d never been so glad for nonrefundable tickets.

His eyebrows lifted. “It’s forever, dearie.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “You haven’t called me that since we met.”

Gold smiled. “You backed into my car. “

Belle dipped her head for a moment. She’d been frustrated and tired after her first day in Storybrooke, shaking like a leaf as she waited for him to get angry and swear at her or something. Instead he had seen how upset she was and did his best to convince her it was no big deal. He didn’t even demand her insurance information, just said he’d take care of it. Before he got back in his car, she blurted out that she was staying at Granny’s inn, just in case he changed his mind. He stopped and looked at her. There was something soft and warm in his eyes, something that made her want to trust him.

_“French. Belle French,” she added, wondering what on Earth possessed her to tell a strange man both her name and where she was staying._

She looked up at him again, her eyes shining. “I told you my name.”

His expression and tone were very serious as brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek and said, “You did.”

 _“Belle,” he repeated, and something_ \- happened. _It was like turning on the light or opening the curtains. “What a lovely name.”_

“Must have stuck with me,” he added.

Belle hummed and pressed closer, running her hands over his shoulders. “Apparently for some time.”

Forever, he thought. And if he did have his way that’s what it would be. He knew it was probably too soon to talk about marriage, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been thinking about it since the moment their feelings were in the open. Well - before that even. He knew the perfect ring for her too. It was in the middle of the top row of the jewelry case in his shop. It was vintage rose gold and she’d tried it on at least ten times since they’d been friends. It fit her perfectly in every way.

“I meant it.”

He had blurted it out causing her to look up at him with raised eyebrows. “What?”

“When I said your name,” Gold explained, hoping she’d know what he was talking about, hoping she remembered the church and the moment everything had started. “I meant it.”

It was probably getting ahead of things, but she told herself when they got back they would talk about it, about the past and the future and maybe a certain ring she’d had her eye on. She smiled and blinked, and a tear finally freed itself and trailed down her cheek. Before he could wipe it away, her lips were on his and he was being guided backwards into their room.

They were definitely not going to dinner.


End file.
